WAG 11 yr old wants to switch from cheer to gymnastics...too late?

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AnnabelleC

Proud Parent
Hi everyone....just some quick background. Daughter turns 11 in a couple of weeks. Has been all-star cheer for 1 1/2 yrs now. Progressed very quickly with the tumbling....gained front and back walkovers, aerial, all handspring skills including RO with multiple BHS, RO tuck, and even standing tuck, all in first year of cheerleading. Has recently started taking tumbling clinics at a gymnastics gym, and now says she wants to try gymnastics next year instead of cheer. Is it too late in the game now? She has never set foot on a beam, vault, or bars, and never learned the smaller, but important basics that you learn in gymnastics. I worry that a beginners class would lose her interest very quickly because of the lack of tumbling, but at the same time, while she can tumble, she has significant catch up to do in many other areas.
 
I had one gymnastics coach tell me that she felt she could still catch up after a year in a pre-competitive team, and another coach felt she was too old and suggested she do power tumbling and trampoline instead....
 
I guess my real question is, is it too late for her to potentially be competitive in the future. She loves to compete, and I don't think she would be satisfied with recreational down the road.

From reading here, i think it may all depend on which gym you go to. Some have really strict age restrictions, especially in the JO program. Maybe look for a gym with a good Xcel program.

FWIW, my DD didn't start gym until she was 9. She was a dancer, already had her walkovers and a small amount of tumbling. Really struggled with beam and bars her first year, and still hated beam her second year. She just turned 11 and is training level 6, so did a pretty awesome job of playing catch up.
 
Too old for elite and college scholarships? Yes. To old to compete? Absolutely not! I didn't set foot into any gym until I was 12. I competed later that year as a level 4 and am still competing now as an 18 year old level 7. She already has strength and flexibility to build on from cheer, so the other three events should come more quickly to her than to somebody who had never done any kind of tumbling. You just have to find a gym with the right coaches who will offer her the opportunity to compete.
 
It depends what you mean by competitive. You are in Canada, I see 18 years old who compete regularly, I would consider that to be competitive.

Chances are she has good body awareness and will catch on quickly. Much of tumbling helps with the other apparatus. In fact the handstand is a skill seen across all of gymnastics.
 
It depends what you mean by competitive. You are in Canada, I see 18 years old who compete regularly, I would consider that to be competitive.

Chances are she has good body awareness and will catch on quickly. Much of tumbling helps with the other apparatus. In fact the handstand is a skill seen across all of gymnastics.
When I say competitive, I simply mean, she would like to attend and participate in a competitions, much like she does with cheer. By no means do I have Olympic or Elite aspirations for her of any kind.
 
You can take up gymnastics as an adult and still be competitive!

Her cheer background will help her as she will have tumbling skills, aerial awareness and strength. But she does need to realise that it could be a little frustrating in the beginning. She will have to go back to basics on the other apparatus like vault, bars and beam which will most likely mean that she will have to go back to basics on her tumbling too and head back to forward rolls and cartwheels.

But as she is 11 and has a background in cheer, she shouldn't have to spend too long at the basic level.

She is probably too old to train for the Olympics or a college scholarship. (Although it has happened). But definitely not too old to be amazing!
 
You might ask the gym if she can take a tumbling class in addition to a preteam class to keep up and even advance her current skills.
 
The issue in a switch from cheer to gym is that while a lot of cheerleaders have skills, form is usually an issue...and that's where she will have her work cut out for her because of the way she has already learned her skill set. And the fact that she has never set foot on the other events will make the learning curve steep for her...

...not to say it can't be done but just having decent tumbling as a cheerleader will not make her a competitive gymnast overnight...and depending on how quickly she picks up the other 3 events, and her patience level at getting those skills, I think it will be more difficult than expected. I think that's why you generally see a gymnast switch to cheer and not vice versa because the gymnast goes from 4 events to 1 , where the cheerleader goes from 1 event to 4...not going to be easy.. but good luck!
 
The issue in a switch from cheer to gym is that while a lot of cheerleaders have skills, form is usually an issue...and that's where she will have her work cut out for her because of the way she has already learned her skill set. And the fact that she has never set foot on the other events will make the learning curve steep for her...

...not to say it can't be done but just having decent tumbling as a cheerleader will not make her a competitive gymnast overnight...and depending on how quickly she picks up the other 3 events, and her patience level at getting those skills, I think it will be more difficult than expected. I think that's why you generally see a gymnast switch to cheer and not vice versa because the gymnast goes from 4 events to 1 , where the cheerleader goes from 1 event to 4...not going to be easy.. but good luck!
While I agree with you somewhat, not every cheerleader has bad form. My daughter currently does all of her tumbling, clinics and privates, at a gymnastics gym because she had a strong desire to tumble with proper technique and form, and she is doing very well with it. She has only been tumbling for just over a year (could not even do a cartwheel 1 1/2 years ago) so she had not developed too many bad habits yet by the time she started tumbling with a gymnastics coach.
 
I definitely think it is possible for her. You need to check out a few gyms for sure. But I know in Canada the systems are in place for gymnasts od all ages and levels to compete. There are even masters comps for adults.

Many girls start gym in high school and manage to get to competition level. Your daughter already has proven her ability to do gymnastics type skills.
 
In my experience, it will have a lot to do with her upper body strength. She seems coordinated, so I would guess Level 3 vault and beam would come easily to her---but Level 3 bars is a whole new ball game. Let her try and see!
 
In my experience, it will have a lot to do with her upper body strength. She seems coordinated, so I would guess Level 3 vault and beam would come easily to her---but Level 3 bars is a whole new ball game. Let her try and see!
Funny that you say that because she has had 2 different gymnastic coaches tell her that she could do well on beam because her bwo and BHS step out are very straight, however they also said that bars would be the apparatus that she would struggle with the most because she needs more arm and upper body strength.
 
It all depends on bars, how tight her form is on her tumbling and how kind puberty is to her body. There have been gymnasts who started that late but still made it to level 10 (or beyond).
 
Would she consider t and t? The skills would translate well and t and t is designed to easily move different levels on different events.
I think she would do well at T and T because she has lots of power and she loves the trampoline as well, however the gym that she is currently taking lessons at is only 1 year old and does not yet have a competitive T and T team.
 
We have a 10 yr old Level 3, who had only taken tumbling. She had almost all the skills you mentioned. She had only been on a beam and bars during open gym. She started on team last spring as a Level 3, and had a lot to learn fast. Fast forward..... She came in 2nd AA at State, had a fantastic season, and is set to skip Level 4 and compete 5. So it's possible. She worked her butt off though. :)
 

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